Its just an against the norm idea and its fine to hate it - like I kind of hate it too but in a perverse way would really enjoy watching it occur.

Bangladesh are a little different because everyone against the idea will legitimately say that the 8th, 9th and 10th best Bangladesh bat will make little difference.

SL though would be my favourite team to see them attempt them away from home as they potentially do have strong batting depth and Dilshan, Mathews can bowl some overs so it would be just picking an extra bat or two over two quicks who are weak batters and going for Chandimal with the gloves as he bats better than Prasanna.

Its just an against the norm idea and its fine to hate it - like I kind of hate it too but in a perverse way would really enjoy watching it occur.

I completely get where you are coming from. I personally would hate it if my team ever did it, and probably would not like watching it, but I would no doubt be intrigued (at least temporarily) if a team ever did it.

I wouldn't mind SL/Bangladesh doing it if they were in a position in a series where tactically not losing mattered a great deal, in general though I hate the idea.

If you aren't selecting bowlers you shouldn't be playing tests.

The thing with Bangladesh is though, if they selected their nine best batsmen they'd still be selecting two of their best five bowlers and a wicket keeper amongst those nine players. They've got a couple of batsmen who actually really seem to actually relish batting 7/8 too. Then they could pick another two bowlers on top of that. It's just a weird situation.

Last edited by Prince EWS; 13-01-2013 at 10:23 PM.

Rejecting 'analysis by checklist' and 'skill absolutism' since Dec '09
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Originally Posted by Jeffrey Tucker

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Originally Posted by GIMH

Freddie is the greatest cricketer ever so the fact these comparisons are being made means three things:

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What is this Sri Lankan batting depth? Outside of Sangakkara away from home they don't have any bats other than Chanders Chandimal who I maintain is class. They're better off playing three spinners and one pace bowler because their seam attack sucks.

The thing with Bangladesh is though, if they selected their nine best batsmen they'd still be selecting two of their best five bowlers and a wicket keeper. They've got a couple of batsmen who actually really seem to actually relish batting 7/8 too. It's just a weird situation.

Yeah true. Bangladesh is an odd case and I don't know enough about their domestic scene anyway. SL is the one side this thread is relevant for really.

I completely get where you are coming from. I personally would hate it if my team ever did it, and probably would not like watching it, but I would no doubt be intrigued (at least temporarily) if a team ever did it.

At worst its an interesting discussion to have on here.

Yeah I would be livid if my team ever did it! So I can imagine Migara would be angry with me nominating SL all the time, but yeah I've just been thinking about this tactic during the SL series and decided to post about it.

Bangladesh could possibly try this tactic at home when the conditions are generally good for spin and it wouldn't even be a negative tactic at all, considering they lose every match, this would actually increase there chances of not losing a match, which is great.

Obv Gazi would be the specialist bowler, play a quick if you must too, then 8 bats and the captain/keeper and they are set.

Yeah I would be livid if my team ever did it! So I can imagine Migara would be angry with me nominating SL all the time, but yeah I've just been thinking about this tactic during the SL series and decided to post about it.

Bangladesh could possibly try this tactic at home when the conditions are generally good for spin and it wouldn't even be a negative tactic at all, considering they lose every match, this would actually increase there chances of not losing a match, which is great.

Obv Gazi would be the specialist bowler, play a quick if you must too, then 8 bats and the captain/keeper and they are set.

This is pretty much what NZ does whenever we play 3 seamers and Vettori, and look how many draws we get. No point stacking the batting if the batsmen suck anyway, which would be the case if you were desperate enough to try this.

Last edited by wellAlbidarned; 13-01-2013 at 11:27 PM.

Originally Posted by Jimmy Neesham

Root always sets up the innings well. It's nice having BJ down the order to finish the innings off.

Haha, NZ fans must finally be happy. Instead of people describing their team as one who always gives their best and punches above their weight, they are now being described as an out and out crap team with no ticker for the fight.

This is pretty much what NZ does whenever we play 3 seamers and Vettori, and look how many draws we get. No point stacking the batting if the batsmen suck anyway, which would be the case if you were desperate enough to try this.

That's not a good example. NZ would play Vettori and say Boult and fill positions 8 and 9 with two hacks who bat, but can't bat properly to follow my example.

NZ aren't the best option as you'd probably have to say that the bowling is more likely to win them a test compared to the batting.

Haha, NZ fans must finally be happy. Instead of people describing their team as one who always gives their best and punches above their weight, they are now being described as an out and out crap team with no ticker for the fight.

Also with back to back Tests occurring frequently these days, picking a ****load of bats AND drawing the game could help the teams chances considerably in the second Test where you could potentially let lose that young quick to somehow conjure a miracle against a tired attack.

I'd say South Africa already does this. They try for the win, but when they don't think they'll get it they play for the draw.

How is any team going to get a lineup of Smith, Peterson, Amla, Kallis, AB, Faf (and hopefully soon) Duminy out if they're playing defensively? Robbie, Philander and Steyn can all stick around a bit, and Morkel isn't a complete mug with the bat.

Just look at the number of draws SA has had over the last few years? One of the major reason's they're number 1 at the moment is they haven't lost much.